St. Mary’s pulls away from Aggies

Early lead doesn’t hold up as NMSU falls to No. 21 Gaels

MORAGA, Calif. — Emmett Naar scored 22 points, Jock Landale added 20 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 21 Saint Mary’s beat New Mexico State 92-74 on Monday night.

The Gaels (2-0) trailed by eight points in the first half when Landale was limited by two early fouls. But the senior center scored 12 points in the second half.

Naar, who is second on the Gaels’ career assists chart, was a scorer early, providing 13 first-half points. Calvin Hermanson added 16 and former Lobo Cullen Neal scored 12 for the Gaels.

Zach Lofton, a graduate transfer from Texas Southern, followed his 25-point debut against East Central, with 18 points to lead the Aggies (1-1). Al Harris and Eli Chuha contributed 13 points each for New Mexico State.

Big picture

New Mexico State: The Aggies’ only road game before Thanksgiving provided them just the challenge they wanted. Saint Mary’s returns three starters from a team that won 29 games and played in the NCAA tournament, but NMSU battled the Gaels throughout.

Saint Mary’s: The Gaels dominate nonconference competition at home (78-8 past 10 seasons), but this was a legitimate test. The Aggies played in the NCAA tournament five of the past six seasons, the exception being 2016 when they nearly knocked off Saint Mary’s at Moraga in the opening round of the NIT, falling 58-56.